There’s been a lot of talk about charter schools lately. Public school districts are in financial crisis. And they’re blaming the competition: publicly-funded charters.
It’s not a new story. Charters — which are privately managed but publicly funded — have been around in California since the legislature opened that door in 1992. Enrollment has doubled over the past decade. Critics — teachers unions in particular — have been fighting to slow that growth and more tightly regulate charters for a long time, without much luck. But now we’re at a tipping point. Because the politics around this whole issue shifted with last year’s election and the recent teachers’ strikes.
